Species and population diversity in Pacific salmon fisheries underpin indigenous food security

Indigenous people are considered to be among the most vulnerable to food insecurity and biodiversity loss. Biodiversity is cited as a key component of indigenous food security; however, quantitative examples of this linkage are limited.
We examined how species and population diversity influence the food security of indigenous fisheries for Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species). We compared two dimensions of food security – catch stability (interannual variability) and access (season length) – across a salmon diversity gradient for 21 fisheries on the Fraser River, Canada, over 30 years, using linear regression models. We used population diversity proxies derived from a range of existing measures because population-specific data were unavailable.
While both population and species diversity were generally associated with higher catch stability and temporal access, population diversity had a stronger signal. Fisheries with access to high species diversity had up to 1·4 times more stable ...